Kathleen and New York City
by Cohen101
Summary: A story about the children of our 'Friends'. 20 years after the fanalie, Jack, Erica, Emma, Joey, Mike and Kathleen are group of twenty something adults learning that the 'rent free life isn't always fun and games. T just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N – So here it is, the first chapter of Kathleen and New York City. It's going to be a story about the children of the 'Friends', I'm planning two more full-time characters, and the original 'Friends' will make periodic appearances, cause they're just amazing. There is one appearance, one reference, and one conversation between mother and daughter in this chapter, but the story will primarily focusing on Kathleen's adventures, which for the larger part involve everyone. I usually put the A/N at the end, but seeing as this is the first chapter, and you need a little background… there it is!_**

**_I have another story that I'm working on side by side with this (Small Case of Writers Block), so please Review if you want the next chapter up quicker. You don't review, I don't know your reading, and I'll take my sweet time updating. Tell me what you'd like to see, and you might be surprised ;)_**

_**Enjoy!**_

Kathleen and New York City

"Why are we watching this movie again?" Joey asked, sharing the recliner with Erica. It was dark, almost 8:30, and they were in Emma's apartment, two floors above Erica's.

"Because it's my favorite. If you've got anything better to do, go ahead and do it."

Erica looked up at Joey then back at Emma. Nope, they had nothing better to do. She leaned against Joey, whose hair was spiked up to keep it out of his hazel nut eyes. His good looks and childish charm were borderline irresistible, an almost perfect protégé of his now aging father. Erica had had a reasonable crush on him with they first started hanging out, as she imagined every girl did.

Emma had stepped in before anything serious could happen, and now they were just friends, destined to be nothing more.

"I have a question Ric," Joey started, and Emma rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her concentration on the movie. Now the commentary would begin, and the movie would be ruined forever by her two unappreciative friends. "Why is it that there's a whole song dedicated to pointing out how much this girl doesn't fit in?"

"I don't know Joe, it seems like the whole village is getting together to conspire against her."

"Guys, please," Emma pleaded, knowing that it only took a little to get the two of them started.

Joey got off the recliner, Erica falling into the space he'd created. "I'm going to get a beer. It might make this movie a bit more exciting. Want anything?" he asked, and Emma shook her head, absorbed in the movie.

"You can make me a Chocolate Milk, like only Joey knows how," Erica smiled sweetly.

Joey shrugged, "You sure you don't want something with a little kick?"

"Joey, after the whole Gala debacle," Erica shuddered at the recent memory, "- I'm sure."

He shrugged, heading to the kitchen and opening the fridge. "Isn't your new roommate getting here tonight?" he asked, taking out a beer and the milk, kicking the door closed with his foot.

"Yeah," Erica sighed, picking at a strand of hair. "Her name's Kathleen… something. Something with a 'D' I think. She's coming in from London."

Emma turned her attention away from the TV. "London as in, London, Britain?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, she has the accent and everything," Erica nodded, and Joey looked up from his mixing.

"She hot?" he asked bluntly. Both Erica and Emma gave him a look, and he shrugged, placing the spoon in his mouth and grinning. Erica shook her head,

"How did she get your number?" Emma questioned suspiciously.

"Aunt Pheebs' friend is a realtor, and she gave him my number because she knew that I was looking for a roommate, and he was the one who gave it to the English lady."

"Well is she? Hot?" Joey asked again, handing the chocolate milk to Erica, giving Emma a glass of orange juice.

"I don't know, I've only talked to her over the phone."

"Did she sound hot?" Joey asked at the same time Emma asked,

"Does Monica know about the roommate plan?"

Erica decided to ignore Joey, instead shaking her head, "No, she doesn't know yet. I'm hoping her and dad will be fine with it… I'm sure my dad will be."

They all stared at the coffee table for a couple seconds; Erica wondering how her neurotic mother would react to her decision, the phone ringing a jolting noise causing them all to jump. Joey reached for it instinctively, answering it with a prompt, "Hello?"

Emma hit him in the shoulder for answering her phone, and Joey waved her off, "It's Mike."

"What does he want?" she asked. Mike was the most scatterbrained person in the world, and having him as a roommate entitled many calls at every hour of the day asking if something or another was MIA. Joey got off the couch and started pacing, a habit that had been the target of numerous jokes.

"He wants to know what time he's meeting his date at," he stated finally and Emma stared at him blankly, the silence filled in by the chewing of Erica's carrot.

"Dude, do you have a calendar or something?" Joey asked the phone after a second, pacing into the kitchen. Obviously Emma was oblivious to Mike's daily plans.

"So what time is she getting here?" Emma asked over the guys' conversation, the Disney movie completely forgotten on mute.

"I'm not sure, she said, "Her plane was supposed to land at 8, but you never know with airlines these days…"

"You moron," Joey laughed in the background, "The store isn't spelt Shadow as in the dog, it's 'Chado'. Haven't you learned anything living with Ems? … Yeah well, I wouldn't tell her that if I were you!" he warned loudly, laughing.

"Tell me what?" Emma asked coyly, and Joey snapped his head up. His eyes darted sideways, and he turned suddenly, leaning back against the counter,

"Nah, she can't tonight, Ric's new roommate's coming in, but maybe tomorrow…"

Emma eyed Joey's back curiously, while Erica started talking, "Is living with a roommate fun?"

"Well, it's not for everyone, but I think you'll do fine. Living with Mike is a blast, even if he calls every five seconds to ask if he left something behind." She nodded thoughtfully, "It's kind of nice, having someone to be there when you get home at night. I mean, you'll have us, but…"

"- alright, talk to you later Mike. Yeah, I'll still probably be here. Cya."

"You don't have a roommate, right Joe?" Erica asked, and Joey walked over putting the phone in the receiver.

"Nope." He sat down beside Emma, taking a drink of his beer.

Erica waited for him to keep talking. "Do you think it's better or worse then having one?" she supplied.

"Both," he answered mono-toned.

Erica waited once again, but he stuck by his one worded answer. "… How so?" she asked, her voice straining.

"Well, for one, you can take girls home No Prob. But then again, there's no one to cook them breakfast… and for another, you have the whole place to yourself, you can do whatever you want! Walk around naked, watch whatever TV show you want, no one to yell at you for having a mess, nothing… but then again, you've got no one to talk to whenever, no one to watch TV with… no one the play games with… both," he finished with a nod.

Erica nodded along with him, giving him a long sideway glance, "Okay…" She slowly shifted her focus to Emma as Joey sat back into the couch, taking another sip of beer.

"So you're gonna go?" Emma asked, giving Joey an odd glance as well.

"Yeah… Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" Joey and Emma both muttered, waving, already started on another conversation. Erica let herself out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind her.

At least she'd always have Joe and Em if anything went wrong. Smiling confidently with new resolve, she jogged down the stairs to her level.

-------------------------

Kathleen Davis had many reasons behind her first visit to New York City, but only one behind her second. She smiled into the window, looking out over the dark, vaguely familiar patchwork pattern of the buildings. She was only minutes away from her arrival at New York City, and a fresh chapter in her life as an adult.

"The Captain has turned on the Fasten Seatbelt sign. For the safety of you and your fellow passengers, please do up your seat belt as we will be arriving at New York City Airport within the next 10 minutes, our arrival time earlier then anticipated. Thank you and we will keep you updated."

The plane tipped forward, and Kathleen could feel her stomach lurch along with the motion. She was defiantly not the flying type of person, and for a second regretted her decision to pack up her life and move to the big city. She'd had a rather large and spacious flat back at London, one she shared with her best friend, Benji. He'd been behind the move wholeheartedly, reminding her time and time again that it was her life, and not her mothers.

It disheartened her how bitter and resenting her mother had been of the plan, arguing again and again about the unethically of it all. It amazing her to no end the sorts of excuses she came up with, everything from the tall buildings to the bugs. But after her first stay with her uncle, she couldn't say no to the prospect of being spontaneous and independent.

Another lurch forward and she looked out the window to see the plane's wing tipping almost surreally. White lace began to fly from the edge, marking its path in the sky.

"We are now beginning our decent. Please remain seated for the duration of the flight."

The message was repeated in several languages, one of which she loosely translated as French. The aircraft flew through the clouds, the shapes and varieties amazing her. It was straight out of a picture, the distinct objects the clouds created, shooting out of their own. But the magical ride ended abruptly; ground quickly coming up to greet the hunk of metal.

"Don't worry about it, metal belongs on the ground, and it's not going to screw it up."

Gently hands pried her fingers away from the armrest she was gripping, and it took her a second to realize she'd been holding it in a death grip. A questioning look to the man beside her resulted in a nod to the flight attendant, who was staring at her with a rather prudent look.

"Funny," Kathleen replied ducking her head behind the seat, laughing nervously as they hit a bout of turbulence, "I was told the opposite thing on the way up." The man nodded appreciatively, and she guessed he was a native of New York. "Do you live in the city?" she asked and the plane lurched again.

"I used to. I lived there for… 13 years if I remember correctly. My wife and I had twins, and we moved away from the city to raise them." He was much older then her, probably the age of her father, the tips of his hair starting to gray. "You visiting family?" he asked. It was a creepy question, though he made it smooth, and didn't have a creepy person vibe, so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"No, actually. I'm moving to New York."

The man peered at her from behind his designer glasses. "Work?" he guessed.

She shook her head.

"Husband," he nodded confidently.

"No," she smiled.

He paused for a second, and she enjoyed watching his thought process. "Are you on a mission to assassin some high powered co-operate executive for millions of dollars?"

She grinned at the question, the ridiculousness of it. "No!" she said laughing.

"So you're just moving half way across the world for the hell of it? Your 'new thing' for the day?" Kathleen shrugged and nodded. "So you have no idea where you're going to get a job, or an apartment, or anything?"

"I have an apartment," Kathleen muttered, turning her attention to the tray in front of her. Why _was_ she moving to New York? She didn't have a job, she didn't have any family, and she didn't even have an idea of the layout of the city! Was she going completely bonkers?

A small bump indicated the landing of the plan, most of the passengers beginning a clap, a customary ceremony for the safe flight, but she barely noticed. Why did she have to have her mid-life crisis when she arrived here? Why didn't it come before?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for the question to upset you. I was trying to get your mind off the landing of the plane." The man seemed in full panic for a second, but it faded when Kathleen began to talk,

"No," she muttered, "It's alright. I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. I'm such an idiot!" she chastised herself. How was a stranger able to send her on a rampage of doubts and fears, when her own mother couldn't convince her what she was doing was foolish?

"How so?" the man asked, and she looked at him, begging him for some reassurance, wondering why this hadn't been a problem before.

The reassurance wasn't coming, and she dissolved into a blubbering stream of gibberish. "How so? How so? Well, first of all, I left all my family and friends behind, as well as a job, as well as a home, as well as a dog, and my mum, and my dad, and my brother, and my-"

"Uh, miss?"

Kathleen glanced at him, wondering what could be more important then her mini-melt down. "What?" she snapped irritated.

"As much as I'm enjoying watching you flip out about your life; you're crushing my fingers…" he looked down at her hand, which was tightened around three of his fingers.

"Wha-" she quickly removed them, wondering how long and how hard they'd been there for. "I'm so sorry!" she started but the man held up a hand to stop her.

"You're going through a tough time. Don't worry. Look, I'm not too good with the advice… my wife's actually forbidden me from divulging my life's wisdom-" he got up and reached into the overhead compartment in one fluid motion, "But about all that life-crisis stuff, leaving everything behind, yada, yada, who cares! It's your life, and now," he pulled out a small leather suitcase, "at least you can be an entrepreneur. Life's no fun if you don't take chances. And chances aren't that fun if there's no risk involved."

He was gone before she could say 'What?', and she dejectedly got off her seat. She was in New York, and there was no going back home until she was successful.

At least she knew where she was headed towards; she thought as she took out her bag and waited patiently in the aisle. At least she had a place to go, even if it wasn't called home.

---------------------------

Erica lounged on the couch, a book in her hands. Her eyes skimmed the same sentence over and over, but she couldn't comprehend the words that were written, or the story they were trying to tell. It was quarter to nine, her new roommate was supposed to arrive any second now, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong.

Sighing, she turned back to her book, attempting to get excited over the story. It was no use, and she found herself thinking about the apartment. She'd been living alone for a year or so now, which wasn't as bad as it seemed.

She'd met up with one of her mum's old friend's son, who, as confusing as that was, literally meant Joey. He lived a couple doors down the hall, so she had someone to talk to and eat dinner with when she got lonely. Emma lived two floors above her, and Jack, her twin brother, lived in a building just across the street, so he was just a small walk away when she got homesick. Work took up most of her days, but she decided she'd be happy to have a roommate- the costs would be split, and maybe she could take some more time off… Maybe buy that couch she always stopped by the Pottery Barn to stare at…

Someone knocked on the door, and she welcomed the distraction from wallowing in her life, taking her feet off the furniture and walking through the kitchen. Looking at the clock, she realized her new roommate was late, although she was coming in from overseas, so the tardiness could be overlooked.

Erica opened the door a split second after the second knock, a harsher, more urgent one. Standing in the doorway was a short girl, maybe 5'5", light black hair and deep dark brown eyes. "Hello?" Erica asked, wondering who the girl was. She had a foreign air about her, and Erica had definitely never seen her around before.

"I'm looking for Erica Bing, would you happen to know where her flat is located? I have a sheet of paper with her addresses, but it got a tad bit wet, so… Are you aright?"

Erica shook her head, the lucid English accent of the girl mesmerizing. "Sorry," she muttered, moving aside to let the British girl in, "I'm Erica… you must be Kathleen? Come in! Take a look around the place. Help yourself to whatever you want until you get settled."

Kathleen nodded her head, smiling brightly, "Thank you. It's nice to finally meet you Erica Bing," she extended a hand, which Erica gladly took. "You're not at all how I imagined you'd look," she admitted, pulling in her oversized suitcase behind her as she looked around.

It was a rather large apartment, and Erica prided herself with being able to afford living in it. "Did you know the walls were purple? And that the cabinets were light blue?" Kathleen asked, walking through the kitchen and then up to the bathroom. She looked around it, but didn't step inside.

"What did you think I'd look like?" Erica asked a bit defensively, ignoring the color comments. She was maybe an inch or so taller then her new roommate, curly dark brown hair, with a high cheek bone and her mothers build. Her father always said that she had her mums light blue eyes, which she later found out wasn't possible.

"This door is green, did you notice that?" Kathleen asked, pointing to the very green door. Erica stared at it for a second, wondering if she really ever had noticed that it was painted green… or the spare room was painted pink… come to think of it, the whole apartment looked as if it was straight from a circus or something, her room the only room that housed a normal color.

"You have a very nice home," Kathleen commented, looking around with a smile.

Erica grunted, shaking the colors from her head. "What did you mean by, 'not how I imagined you'd look?'?" she persisted. Was she not pretty enough to be this British lady's roommate?

Kathleen turned around and gasped horrified at Erica. "No, oh God, no, I didn't mean to offend you. Only, over the phone, you seemed rather… Manish. It must have been the connection, but I was imagining you maybe a bit taller, bigger… I'm sorry Erica Bing; I should stop talking before I embarrass myself more…" She put her handbag on the table. "You're very beautiful, did you know that?" she added, seemingly wanting to make amends.

"Uh, thanks…" Erica couldn't find the words to reply.

Kathleen apparently noticed Erica's discomfort, biting her lip. "Should we try this again?" she asked, and Erica shook her head. The girl seemed to be in distress, and Erica didn't want to give her a hard time. She gave her a small smile,

"No, it's alright… just; I've never met someone from England before."

Kathleen gave a small laugh, relieved there were no hard feelings, "Well, this is my second time in America, and I have to say, I don't know what got into me- wanting to move all the way here, it's completely insane. I've so very glad you decided to offer me a place here… which room will be mine?" she asked, thinking it best to put an end to the evening as quickly as possible. Maybe once she unpacked a little and had a good nights rest, she'd be able to talk straight, and not at all like a crazy person.

Erica led the way to the room on the right, giving Kathleen side glances along the way. "That's it right there," she pointed, and Kathleen nodded contently.

"It's splendid!" she commented, dragging her suitcase inside the room with her. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then," Kathleen nodded, smiling at Erica once again. "Thank you, again, for helping me do this."

She shut the door, and Erica stood in front of it for a moment, taking in the fifteen minutes of life with a roommate. She'd have to ask her friends how they standed living with roommates, because her first impression of Kathleen had left her a little overwhelmed.

-----------------

It was three in the morning, and Kathleen woke up with a headache. It took her a second to get her bearings straight, and stop freaking out about the newness of her bedroom. It was pink, but that was something she didn't mind too much, obviously its previous occupant had been a girly girl, or perhaps one of those gay men you heard about all the time.

Shaking her head to rid the thoughts, she regretted the motion almost instantly, a wave of pain shooting through it. Sighing, she got up, deciding that a glass of water would help ease her suffering.

She opened the door to find Erica watching television half-heartedly with a blanket wound tightly around her. Erica's head snapped up to greet Emma, offering a half smile after the initial panic of, 'Oh my GOD, there's someone in my house!' She hadn't had the time to get used the new girl yet.

"Hello," Kathleen muttered, standing in the doorway nervously. Their first introduction hadn't gone very smoothly, and this more then a little awkward.

"Hey," Erica replied softly. She looked back at the TV, and then moved over on the couch. "You can join me if you want," she offered.

Kathleen walked towards her, "I actually just got up for a quick drink; I've got a headache the size of the English Channel."

Erica laughed weakly, watching Kathleen go past her and to the kitchen. "Mind getting me some?" she asked after a second's hesitation.

"No problem," Kathleen filled up two glasses and paused before sitting down beside Erica. This wasn't that bad, she thought as Erica rearranged herself and the blanket on the couch to accommodate for her. "I know why I'm up, but what are you doing at three in the morning?" Kathleen asked, taking the blanket thankfully.

Erica looked back at the TV. "Couldn't sleep," she said shortly, an underlying cause present.

Kathleen looked at the TV, noticing that there was a documentary of some kind on. "When I was little, whenever I couldn't sleep I'd run into my Mum and Dads room and curl up beside them."

Erica laughed, her attention remaining on the TV, "I used to do the same thing- only I have a twin brother, so I'd be the two of us, huddled together in our parents bed… his name's Jack, you'll have to meet him sometime," she added. Talking with Kathleen was turning out to be not at all awkward and strange, the blanket drawing them slowly closer.

"I've only got one brother, a younger one. What are your parents like?" she asked.

Erica thought for a moment, "Well, my Mom's kind of neurotic; she has the tendency to overreact at the small things. She's a clean freak, and my Dad always makes fun of her for it. He jokes around a lot… you should've heard him when I started driving, 'You know, you should start thinking about braking about now, unless you want to go bungee jumping in a hunk of metal… Okay, so if you like hitting pedestrians keep driving like you are, but I suggest you slow down just a tad for that intersection…' He's pretty chill like that."

"How did they meet?"

Erica bit her lip, trying to remember the exact details. "Well, I know that they were friends for a long time before they actually started 'dating', so to speak. I'm not really sure, but I think it happened overseas, somewhere in Europe maybe… Once we went camping, and all the adults got drunk, and what I got from it was that Uncle Ross was marrying someone in London, and that's when my Mom and Dad got together. I'll have to ask them for the story sometime…"

"Are they in love?" Kathleen asked quietly, looking down at the ground.

It struck her as an odd question, but she nodded anyways, "Yeah, even now they're head over heels in love with each other. It makes me wonder if sometimes I'll ever find a person I love that much." Kathleen made no move to interrupt, so she kept going. For a long time she wanted to get these feelings out, and now seemed like the perfect time. It wouldn't make her seem shallow, but it was nothing too personal.

"My Dad, he's so -completely obsessed with her it's scary sometimes. He takes horrible, horrible pictures, right? I mean, it looks like he's trying to give birth or something… But there's this one picture, and it's of him and Mom on their wedding day. And they both look so happy and so content with each other, and he has the biggest smile on his face, like he was waiting his whole life for that one moment. It really makes me wonder if I'll ever be like that…"

"I'm sure you will be," Kathleen said after a second. "Everyone's got that one person they belong with; it just might take a while to find them. If it helps, sometimes I feel that way- that I'm going to die alone."

Erica smiled at her words, glad that they had something in common. "What are your parents like?" she asked.

Kathleen, like Erica, took a moment to figure out how to sum up her parents in a paragraph. And to decide how much she wanted to share with a person she'd just met the night prior.

"My Moms… interesting. Her and Dad don't seem in love to me… She wants the best for me, but she's always working, late into the night. I moved out when I turned 19, went to live with an old friend, Benji. Lived with him up until I moved here. My Dad's pretty much a complete arse though, he- he likes his liquor… He and my Mum don't talk all that much, they've got an odd relationship going… I was happy to start living on my own."

Erica glanced at her quickly, wondering what she would do if her Mom and Dad hadn't been in love. If she hadn't had the childhood she'd had, and if they'd broken up… there were a lot of tears on her moving day, and she had loved living with her parents, though at times they were overbearing.

"You're going to love living here," Erica said after a couple minutes of silence. Kathleen nodded without turning away from the TV. Erica's eyes were barely holding up, and she saw Kathleen reach for to mute the television from the corner of her eye. The subtitles became blurrier and blurrier, and the last thing Erica heard before she closed her eyes was Kathleen's soft laughter.

The show ended, and Kathleen shut off the TV after spending a reasonable amount of time looking for the correct button on the remote. She smiled as she lifted Erica's feet off her lap gently, she had somehow managed to stretch out across the couch, her head nuzzled into a pillow; things would be fine between them after all.

Their talk hadn't been deep or meaningful, but it was a start. She'd learned about her family, and Erica had learned about hers. It was noting too intense, but it felt like the start of something. She covered Erica with a blanket, taking the two half full glasses of water and placing them in the sink before walking back to her room.

"Night Erica Bing," she whispered as she shut the door, "It was nice meeting you."

She crawled into bed and was asleep in an instance.

------------

Kathleen woke up, and voices she didn't recognize muddled together, the sound making her groan. Was it morning already?

Thin light flooded into her bedroom, and she yawned. It was the start of a new day, her first day here in New York City…

Unless of course, the late night conversation she'd had with Erica was considered 'today', in which case it was the start of a later day, at a more reasonable hour in the morning.

The voices were progressively getting louder, and she heard the name 'Erica' somewhere in the conversation, so she assumed that it wasn't anything to worry about. Deciding on simple jeans and a random logo t-shirt, she pinned her hair up and opened the door.

It was a lot brighter out in the main living area then it had been in her bedroom, and her hands automatically shot up to her eyes, protecting them from the light.

"Morning Kathleen," she heard Erica say, and she forced herself to attempt opening her eyes again.

"Cheers," Kathleen replied sarcastically. She wasn't a morning person, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed that she wasn't the only one who had the same problem. There was a pretty girl sitting at the table, her hair in a messy bun, chin placed firmly on palm, making an effort not to fall in her grilled cheese.

"Wow, she _does_ have an accent!" a black haired boy exclaimed, Erica promptly kicking him in the shin. Kathleen shot him a look, but immediately reclaimed it, seeing who she was glaring at clearly.

"Hello," she smiled shyly at the boy. He looked young, younger then her by at least five years, but he was cute. His hair was untampered with, a boyish smile greeting her, his tight t-shirt stretched stylishly across his chest.

"That's Joey," Erica introduced, her tone a warning to him. She pointed to the tired girl on her left, "And that's Emma… They come over for breakfast occasionally," she explained.

Joey laughed into his orange juice. "If by occasionally you mean every day."

"Do you want to make your own food?" Erica threatened, and Joey shook his head, taking a bite out of his own grilled cheese.

Emma gave a half-wave, yawning loudly. "Mo-mornin'," she stuttered as she stretched her arms out.

Kathleen couldn't contain her giggle, "Morning." She walked across the kitchen and got herself a glass, feeling the stares of all three people on her back.

"Sit down and have a bite with us," Erica invited, and Kathleen looked around the small table,

"There isn't anywhere to sit…"

Joey looked up at the comment and backed his chair out slightly, "There's a seat on my lap if you'd be willing to take it," he offered with a wink, and Kathleen stared.

Was he doing what she thought he was doing?

"Oh, shut-up Joe. Don't listen to him," Erica advised, disappearing to the green door for a moment.

Kathleen took her seat, helping herself to an apple that was on the table,

"So, your names Kathleen, right?" Emma asked with another yawn.

Kathleen smiled at her, yawning right after hers finished. "Yes, Kathleen Davis… Your own?"

"Emma Geller-Greene… well," she paused, thinking for a second. "I guess just Emma Greene, because my Mom and Dad eventually got married… Would it, Joey?"

"Joey Tribbiani Junior the third," Joey answered with a grin, and Emma rolled her eyes. It was too early in the morning to be trying to correcting Joey. Kathleen laughed at the misunderstanding,

"And you're all friends of Erica's?" They both nodded, and Erica came to the table with an extra chair. "Guess I should keep out an extra chair from now on," she laughed, and Kathleen nodded.

Joey finished off his orange juice and got up to put the empty glass in the sink. "So is it strictly Kathleen, or do you answer to anything else?"

"Depends what it is," Kathleen answered, already having a general idea of what Joey was made of. She laughed at the face Joey pulled.

"Hey! I don't mean dirty or anything! I meant like… Kate or Katie…" Kathleen screwed up her face. No one had ever referred to her as any of those names- maybe a boyfriend or two calling her Katie, but other then that…

"How about Kato?" Emma asked, placing her dirty dishes in the sink as well. Unlike Joey, she came back and sat down. "Can we call you that?"

Kathleen shrugged, "If you want."

"Sounds good," Emma nodded. The phone started ringing and Joey automatically picked it up, answering with a prompt,

"Hello?"

"Joey!" Erica whined, and he waved her off.

"Yeah, I'm doing good Auntie Mon, how 'bout yourself?..."

"It's my Mom," Erica explained to Kathleen, who was watching the interaction,

"And Joey always answers the phone, and then walks away with it… Sometimes it gets annoying; we're trying to kick the habit, but…"

Kathleen smiled as Joey indeed walked away with the phone, heading into her room. She stood up, watching as he walked through the door way, the sound of the bed springs being compressed drifting to the table. "Should I be worried?" she asked nervously.

"Nah, either he has no idea where he's going, and he'll come out in a couple seconds like a mad man, or he likes you and already feels like your big brother."

They all looked at the door, and Kathleen slowly sat down, Joey having been there for several minutes.

"I better get him off the phone with my Mom before he asks her to marry him or something…" Erica muttered, heading towards Kathleen's room. "You don't mind, do you Kato?" she asked halfway there, and Kathleen smiled, shaking her head.

"So what are you up to today?" Emma asked, and Kathleen turned away from the bedroom, where random voices and thumps could be heard.

"Well, I'm planning to unpack- get settled, I have a interview tomorrow at one of the museums somewhere around here, though I don't know exactly where it is... are you alright?" she asked, Emma gawking at her with wide eyes and a open mouth.

"Are you a paleontologist?"

"Well, technically yes, but my main area of expertise is paleozoology, with a specialty in invertebrate paleontology. Why do you ask?"

Emma brushed her bangs out of her eyes, taking a closer look at Kathleen. "But your… pretty," she stated, not believing what she was hearing.

"T-Thank you?"

Emma shook her head. It was early in the morning, but that still wasn't an excuse to be incoherent, no matter what Joey said. "It's just, my Dad's a paleontologist, and all the woman that work with him are all creepy and old and… weird. You seem pretty normal, and you're really pretty…"

"Does your Dad specialize in anything?" Kathleen asked, instantly interested.

"Uh… he used to teach at the University?" Kathleen was cool, but this conversation was dragging her into the deep end. Why couldn't the stupid old dinosaurs all wear stylish parkas… she could just imagine the 'T-Rex' line of expandable tie straps…

"What are you doing tonight?" Emma asked shaking the thoughts of Jurassic Park animals prancing around in Gucci and Prada. Kathleen bit her lip, thinking,

"Uh… nothing, I think…"

Emma nodded, "Well, we were all planning to watch a movie at my place, you want to come along? My Dad's going to drop by, and maybe he can get you some connections- get a job at the university he works at or the museum or something…"

"Yeah, that'd be really cool," Kathleen smiled.

"What's cool?" Joey asked, coming from her bedroom, the door slamming behind him. He winced from the noise, and kneeled down on the couch, hanging off the edge.

"Kate's going to come over and watch a movie with us tonight," Emma explained, getting up and heading to the door. "I got to get to work, but tell Erica thanks for the food, alright?"

Kathleen nodded, waving to her as she left. She didn't know yet whether to consider Emma a friend or not, but she was certainly one less person she didn't know in the world. Putting the dishes in the sink, she started the water, waiting for it to get hot.

"What're you doing?" Joey asked from the couch, and Kathleen turned around,

"I'm going to get a start on the dishes… Why, want to help?"

"Nah," Joey replied instantly. "Why don't you come and join me?" he ventured, and Kathleen shrugged,

"Why not."

She sat down on the couch beside Joey, and he picked up the remote and put his arm around her shoulders. Kathleen looked up at him questioningly, and Joey laughed.

"Don't worry; I know you're off limits. Already got an earful from Erica… Doesn't mean I won't say no to holding a beautiful woman when I get the chance," he smiled.

Kathleen laughed, "You've got some good lines, you know that?" she asked, and Joey nodded smugly.

"I've got a million of 'em. How do you think I get so many women?" he asked, and he turned on the TV, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

"Well, I thought it was your natural charm, since you seem to have it in abundance," Kathleen replied, enjoying the playful banter.

Joey laughed and shook his head, Kathleen leaning her head on his chest. "Are you okay with this though?" he asked her seriously.

"If I am will it make me a slut?" she asked.

Joey shook his head, "You're heart's too big to be a slut."

Kathleen nodded, "Then it's fine as long as you know it isn't leading to anything…" she paused. "How do you know how big my heart is?" she asked, and Joey laughed.

"When I was in your room, I saw three things. Your bra, your pants, and a picture of three people. You, a gay guy, and an old man in a wheelchair. If the first thing you unpacked is that photo, I'm betting good bucks that you're a good person."

"How did you know Benji was gay?"

Joey patted her arm, "Let's just call it a talent and leave it at that."

As the sitcom of choice progressed in its plot, Kathleen slowly moved from under Joey's arm to her feet on his lap, her head twisted to maintain her view of the television.

Joey was turning out to be more of a puzzle then she'd originally thought, the things he said constantly contradicting the things he did and what he meant.

Erica came from the bedroom nearing the end of the plot, and didn't give Kathleen and Joey a second look as she stormed in front of the TV and to her own room.

Kathleen watched her as she slammed the door, and looked over to Joey. "Should we go see what's wrong?" she asked, and Joey shook her head.

"Give her a bit of time. Usually five minutes is good, she'll be calmed down by then, and if you insist on staying with her, she'll agree," he answered, arms still folded, attention focused on the television.

"Oh…" was all Kathleen could say. The show ended, and Joey slid out from Kathleen's feet.

"I'm going to go talk to her," he explained, and Kathleen nodded, knowing that she didn't know nearly enough about Erica to help her through whatever she was going through.

She sighed as she got off the couch and walked to the kitchen, starting the water for the dishes.

New York had so far proven to be alright, and Erica's friends seemed to accept her as the new roommate. She started the doing the dishes, letting the warm water run down her hands.

Emma and Joey seemed pretty cool, and she knew she could be friends with them if they gave her a chance. This afternoon would be interesting, meeting Emma's Dad and spending a couple hours with people she didn't know.

She could hear Joey talking to Erica in a low, calming voice, and that together with the rhythmic flow of the water seemed to calm all and any jitters about the move.

It'd only been a day, but it was starting to feel like home already.

**Kathleen and New York City**

**-Cohen101-**

_- - - drop a review!_


	2. Kathleen and Friends

**Kathleen and Friends**

Cold shivers ran up and down her spin as Kathleen jogged up the stairs hurriedly. Joey and Erica had convinced her to go down to the café downstairs with them, but the second she stepped out the door, she regretted it.

"And the defendant bails after two minutes and thirty-nine seconds," Joey had commented as Kathleen pronounced her persistent lack of warmth.

They had both looked at him oddly, and as she left with Erica's sweater and Joey's thick coat, they started up a conversation about law and court, Joey obviously having no idea of the terminology involved with both.

Kathleen thought she knew winter, but New York's coldest season was nothing compared to London's. It hardly plunged below 30 degrees, which wasn't that big of a change, but today was particularly horrible, the temperature remaining stubbornly below 20. The sky was black with clouds, and the wind penetrated her four layers of thick clothes effortlessly. Central Perk was only a five second walk away, but it had been enough to give her the chills and fill her pinned up hair with snow.

She put a hand on the doorknob of her apartment with every intention of opening the door, but found it already unlocked. She panicked for a second, but then remembered that Emma had a key, and could be back for lunch.

"Hello?" she called as she walked in, the apartment just as cold as outside to her. She shivered.

"Erica?" a mans voice called, and Kathleen raised her eyebrows.

"No, it's Kathleen. Who's that?"

A young man, maybe 22, 23 appeared from the general area of the bathroom, his hand resting on the wall. He wore stylish designer glasses, and although they distinguished him she could see he bared some resemblance to her roommate. His hair was the same style that Joey wore his, although there was no gel in it, and it fell neatly into place, each strand placed perfectly. He caught sight of her and looked her over, and she was very aware of the fact that her turtleneck, hoodie, sweater and jacket made her look oddly mis-proportioned.

"You must be Erica's twin," Kathleen stated awkwardly, and the boy nodded. He grinned, and Kathleen was forced to smile at the dimples that formed.

"That's what they call me," he laughed easily, and he half-hopped off the step and walked over to where Kathleen was standing. "Jack Garret Bing," he introduced, holding out his hand, adjusting his glasses with the other. Kathleen took it, and he cocked his head.

"So you must be the famous Kato everyone's been talking about."

Kathleen snapped up at the comment. People had been talking about her? "What did you hear from who?" she asked cautiously.

"Well, from Joey- and only that you were really, really hot, and that you were pretty cool – from him it isn't that big of a surprise, but he's a pretty honest guy; he told the truth this time in any case."

Kathleen smiled at the compliment, looking down at the floor shyly.

"Is it really that bad outside?" he commented after a second of silence, nodding towards Kathleen's apparel.

Kathleen looked down at her puffed out body, and she took Joey's coat off, revealing the wool sweater that had 'ERICA' splashed across the front. She took Joey's coat and folded it over a chair. "Yes, but I'm the only who seems to think so," she answered embarrassed.

Jack nodded, his grey eyes tingling with amusement. "Do you know where Ric is, any-who?" he asked, still holding onto Kathleen's hand. She pulled it away from him and started to boil the water.

"Yeah, she's down at Central Perk with Joey… what are you doing?" she asked, watching Jack paw through Joey's coat.

"It's a letter of co-assignment," Jack answered, holding up a folded envelope. "Joe's in retail and I asked him to write one up for me." Kathleen nodded and took a cup out from the cabinet.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" she asked, and heard Jack's Yes in the background. She took the water off and poured it into the cups, turning around to see Jack staring at her.

He seemed unfazed by the fact he'd gotten caught, picking up the newspaper and unfolding it. Kathleen gave him an odd glance and set a cup down in front of him, "Thanks."

A shiver ran down her spine, and she knew it wasn't from emotional feelings. "I'm going to go get a sweater and a blanket," she excused, and Jack nodded, taking a sip of his coffee, returning to the Entertainment section. He always skimmed the headlines for his Uncle Joey, but had still to spot him.

Kathleen sat on the lounger feeling only slightly ridiculous. She had put on her sweats and the biggest, most oversized hooded sweater she owned, and had wrapped herself into a cocoon with her thick winter blanket.

Jack looked up from the couch and tried to contain a smile as Kathleen hobbled through the living room and curled up into a ball on the lazy boy.

"I think the Marshmallow parade is that way," he commented, jerking his head towards the door. Kathleen glared at him playfully, and he laughed at her face. "I'd offer you my sweater, but it looks like you have enough," Jack said, adjusting his glasses and crossing his legs.

"It still wouldn't help," Kathleen mumbled, feeling her body shiver under the heavy blanket. She curled up tighter, staring hard at the ground, trying not to concentrate on her freezing skin.

They sat in silence for a moment, Kathleen completely oblivious to it, too involved with her heat problem then breaking the ice.

"So you're from England?" Jack ventured, taking a sip of his coffee.

Kathleen snapped out of her trance, nodding. "Yes, London actually. It never gets this cold there," she complained, and she stopped before she started ranting.

"Did you grow up there?" Jack asked, and Kathleen once again nodded,

"Yes, I spent my childhood there with my younger brother, but I moved out when I was 19."

Jack nodded, "I moved here a couple months ago from collage. My parents want me to come home, but Erica got me a deal on an apartment down the street. Did you live alone?"

"No, I lived with my roommate, Benji, for seven years."

"My cousins' name is Ben. Have you met Emma yet?" he asked, and Kathleen nodded, "It's her half-brother. He lives a block and a half north."

"Are they close?"

"They didn't grow up together, but I would say they were pretty close. Ben really protective of her, he's almost six years older then her."

"So how old would that make you?"

Jack's eyes tingled with laughter at the question, and he smiled. "Emma's 24, Mike's 21, Joey's 20, Erica and me are 22; twins, which is a given," he answered in his soft, clear way of speaking. Kathleen nodded, more conscious about her age then ever. She braced herself for the question she knew was coming. "You?"

"Ahh… 23," she lied quickly, and Jack glanced at her, his eyebrow raised.

"Really?" he asked, and she laughed.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Kathleen said, throwing a pillow at him when he started doing just that. It wasn't really a laugh, more like a chuckle, and he grabbed the pillow in the air easily.

"I promise," he finally said, and Kathleen folded her arms and pouted.

"Well I'm not telling you," she stated stubbornly. Jack's eyebrows once again raised at her childishness. "What?" she asked, and Jack laughed again.

"Just tell me," he said easily, and Kathleen looked at him.

"Promise you won't laugh?" she asked again, and this time he kept a straight face.

"Promise."

Kathleen took a deep breath, "… 26."

Jack looked her over, and she could feel her face starting to change color. "That's not that bad," he said finally, deeming she was telling the truth.

"Compared to you and your friends it is," she mumbled miserably. She pushed her head into the bed covers, moaning into them, "I'm cold, I'm old, and I've moved away from everyone else I know that's old and… familiar."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing."

Kathleen looked up at Jack, "Are you saying I'm old?" she questioned, her voice getting high and indignant.

"No, no, I'm saying – maybe it's not such a bad thing that you moved. I mean, it's only your first day in the city, right?"

"Yeah," Kathleen muttered dryly, "And look at how well I'm adjusting, me, the anti-social, no-friend human marshmallow."

Jack laughed, and shifted on the couch so he was closer to her. "Yeah, but you don't know my friends. They're critical, analytical; criticize anything and everything that moves - they're a bitch to watch reruns with. If you survived the morning with them, you've got friends."

"Still…" Kathleen whined, and Jack stood up.

"No, no, no more ranting about how life sucks just because you moved to New York. New York doesn't like moaners. We've got a bunch of rich, snotty brats for that." He held out his hand for her to take.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Taking you out on a date. To see New York."

Kathleen looked at his hand and then at his face. "But… I'm cold," she protested weakly; his eyebrows went up again, and he laughed at her pathetic excuse.

"I'll get you Thermo packs and you'll wear your warmest clothes," he stated, shooting down her defense.

"Emma invited me to her place tonight-"

Her second excuse didn't get too far, "I'll get you back in time to shower and prep; it's my turn to pick the movie and I'll let you choose… Any other reasons floating around in your head that I can shoot down?" he added, and Kathleen shook her head, taking his hand dejectedly.

"Don't hurt yourself with that enthusiasm," Jack warned, giving her a small push towards her room.

"Go put on your warmest clothes," he instructed, "And we'll stop by the coffee shop for an extra hot, double mocha, hot coco blend before we go," he promised, and Kathleen rolled her head back to look at him before she opened her door and slowly dragged her feet and her huge blanket to the bed.

------------

It wasn't long before Jack managed to get her out the door and down to the coffee house. To Kathleen's surprise, he had indeed found the promised Thermo packs, though from where she didn't know, and had four of them laid out across the table, heated and all, when she came out of the door.

"I can get you more," he said, smiling sweetly.

Kathleen laughed at his face, and tucked two into her shirt.

She'd settled for the warmest pair of pants she owned, Erica's thick sweater, and a coat that closely resembled a parka in areas of 'puffy-ness'.

Jack had laughed at her, said, 'You forgot this,' and pulled a cute hat on her head, wrapping a long scarf numerous times around her neck, tucking it into her coat when he had her nearly suffocated.

They walked down to the coffee house, and Kathleen sat with Erica and Joey while Jack ordered their hot drinks. Erica thanked her brother for showing Kathleen around the city and reminded them to pick up a movie on their way back, Joey giving Jack a big thumbs up as they left beverages in hand.

They started walked down the street, and pretty soon Kathleen had no idea where they were or how to get back to the apartments. It slowly began to warm, and Kathleen periodically stopped to take off her scarf, take away the Thermo packs, unzip her coat, remover her mittens, and so on until all she had left on were pants and the sweater Erica had let her borrow.

Jack was the perfect gentlemen and didn't complain once.

They took a walk through Central Park (which Jack promised they'd return to on the way back, it wasn't that far away from the apartments), went to see the Empire State Building, the Flea Market at Unions Square, and ate falafels as they walked home from the 'Home of the Knicks'.

"And that right there is the Met," Jack pointed out as they walked by a large, old looking building. Kathleen stared up at the impressive architecture.

"What does 'Met' mean?"

Jack smiled at her question, "It's the lazy way of saying the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, and it was built in 1872. We'll stop by there as well sometime; Mike really enjoys going there, although I'm pretty sure he's already seen everything... It's the only part of history he likes, truth be told…"

They took another walk down Central Park, shockingly close to the Museum, and headed back to the coffee house. Or so Kathleen thought until Jack disappeared and called for her through a hidden alcove. She headed off towards his voice, almost getting lost in the process. They picked out a older movie called, "Children of Men," which Jack had already seen but was 'pretty sure' no one else had.

"Has anyone seen my keys?" Mike asked as he dropped down on all fours and started sweeping the couches.

Emma rolled her eyes impatiently, "You've seriously got to be kidding me! You lost them again!"

"I didn't lose them," Mike glared at her, and Kathleen couldn't suppress a laugh, "I just misplaced them."

Emma headed to the bathroom in search of the 'misplaced' keys and Kathleen sat on the stool, leaning across the countertop.

"So when is Emma's Dad stopping by?" she asked, Jack busy in the kitchen behind her. Mike looked up at her for a second, his face scrunched up in serious thought. "Uh…"

"Eight-ish?" Jack said, opening the oven door. Mike nodded,

"Yeah, what he said," and continued looking under the couches, slowly moving onto under the cushions, and under all the papers on the coffee table.

"Right," Kathleen nodded, turning around to watch Jack take out the beautiful looking muffins. The smell of slowly baking goods had long since filled the apartment, making everyone's stomach growl. Joey came out Emma's room, his hair tousled adorably.

"Good nap?" Mike asked, his whole arm eaten by the couch.

"Lost your keys again?" Joey responded instead, and Mike nodded, the tips of his lips curling up into a small smile. "Emma ready to kill you?" Joey continued, and again Mike nodded. "Then yeah, good nap."

Mike threw a wrapped Mini Twix bar at Joey as he sat down on the couch. "Thanks," Joey smiled, holding up the bar and Kathleen couldn't help but laugh.

Joey turned around at the sound, his face lighting up at the sight of her. "Hey! So you decided to come along then!"

Kathleen nodded, "Yeah, Jack convinced me. I have your sweater by the way," she added, and Joey shrugged.

"I'll get it back whenever," he said, and the door opened.

Jack turned around to greet the visitor, smiling when he saw Erica holding up the shiny, jingling keys. "Looking for something Mickey?" she asked, and Mike didn't look up.

"Yeah, have you seen my keys?" he asked, still digging under the cushions.

"Mike?" Erica asked, and Mike finally looked up. He looked up at her questionably, his eyes drifting slowly from her face to her held up hand.

"I love you!" he shouted, getting up and running over to where Erica was standing. He picked her up and whirled her around, bumping into Jack who almost dropped the pan of muffins. "Emma! I found them!" he shouted, kissing Erica on the cheek, taking the keys from her hands. Kathleen laughed, and Mike put the keys in the drawer, then went to sit down on the couch.

"Can you pass me that plate?" Erica asked after her balance returned, and Mike looked around, pointing to himself. "Yes, you, you're the closest one."

Mike shook his head, as if the fact was untrue, "No, I'm not. I'm not here. I'm not even human."

"Then what are you?" Erica asked, playing along, getting up to fetch the plate herself.

"I'm not space… I'm not time… I'm nothing and not anything- I'm the furthest thing away from a living blob of particle matter, and I'm most definitely not the tiny microorganism that lives on the bottom of you're shoes… I'm nothing. I don't exist. I'm a tangent in the space-time continuum and my cells have been destroyed by the gamma rays of the solar system."

"Uh-huh."

"I am… Anti-Matter!" Mike finished dramatically, gesturing a finale with his hands.

"And does anti-matter like to eat more, muffins or toast?" Erica asked dryly.

Joey interjected before Mike got a chance to answer, "Well, I know Joey likes both."

"Well, Erica isn't asking Joey what he likes, is she?"

"And we all know what Joey likes," Emma added on coming in from the bathroom, and Kathleen giggled. Jack looked up at her from his baking, and grinned.

Mike tugged on Erica's sleeve in the living room, "Anti-matter likes Muffins, if anyone cares anymore," he said sweetly.

"Muffins it is," Jack relayed behind the counter, pulling the freshly baked blueberry muffins out of the pan. There was a knock on the door, and Jack looked up for a second, "Can you get that Kate?" he asked, and Kathleen nodded.

She heard the group of friends laughing in the background about something or another as she walked over and opened the door. "Hello?" she asked, and Kathleen's line of view immediately went to the man's hazel eyes. His hair was solidly black, and Kathleen could tell he dyed it from the half-grey hairs that cropped out randomly. She watched as his eyes widened, and he stared at her confused.

"Oh, uh," he stuttered, stepping back and looking down the hall. "Sorry, I must have gotten the wrong apartment," he muttered, shaking his head. "Stupid Ross - don't even know where your daughter lives," he chastised himself, and Kathleen bit back a smile.

"You must be Dr. Geller, I'm Kathleen," there was a scuffling behind her, a loud crash, and she was pretty sure she heard Erica shout, 'Kathleen!' in a particularly shrill voice. "- Erica's roommate," she finished before looking back to see what the commotion had been.

Emma was lying across Joey's lap, her hands stretched out to the door. Erica was on the floor, her foot tangled in the rug. Jack looked the most nervous since Kathleen had met him, holding a muffin in one hand, the pan in the other, and Mike was biting his lip with a pained look. She looked at the scene confused.

"You're Erica's roommate?" Ross asked, still standing outside the door. He was holding a slip of paper awkwardly in the air. "But Erica doesn't have a roommate…" he trailed off, staring at his daughter on the couch, looking back and forth from his respective nephews and nieces.

"Katie," Mike said, his voice forced. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, and Kathleen nodded, a bit bewildered. Mike quickly got up and grabbed her elbow lightly, heading out the door. "Nice seeing you Uncle Ross," he said smoothly, pushing Ross into the apartment, simultaneously closing the door behind him.

"What-" Kathleen started, but she couldn't get the sentence out. A second ago they were all laughing and having fun; why did the mood change so suddenly?

Mike sighed, playing with his hands, his boyish face and curls bouncing. "Uh, I don't know how to tell you this but…"

The door behind Mike opened, and Ross was standing there, looking as confused as Kathleen felt. "Mike-" he started, but Mike cut him off.

"Uh, one sec," he said, pulling the door closed.

"Okay, what the bloody hell's going on?" Kathleen asked wanting to understand exactly what had happened while her back was turned.

Mike hesitated before he started, "Okay, you know Monica?"

"Erica's mom?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded, "Well, Aunt Monica's been trying to force this roommate on Ric, and Ric said that she didn't do roommates, and that she would rather live alone."

Kathleen stared at him. "And that's what all this was about? That she told her mother that she didn't want a roommate, and then offered it to me?"

"Well, first of all, yes, and second of all - it's not exactly that low-key. I mean, it's been going on for a little while, and there have been a couple of really big fights about it… you should have been there spring break a few months ago, it was scary. I'm guessing she forgot to tell you about that…"

Kathleen nodded, knowing exactly how fights with her mother went. "But why does Emma's dad care so much?" she asked, and Mike looked nervously to the door, as if gauging how much time they had left before all hell broke loose.

"Emma's dad is Aunt Monica's brother," he explained.

Kathleen nodded slowly, "But then… why does Joey call her his Aunt as well?" she asked, the fundamentals of her five new friends still unclear. Mike impatiently sat down on the ground, his back against the wall.

Glancing at the door once more. - which was knocking impatiently, his Uncle Ross no doubt - he decided to wing it, "Uh, Emma's dad is Jack and Erica's mom's brother, their dad, Joey's dad, and Emma's dads are like, best friends, my mom, Jack's mom and Emma's mom are like, best friends, and Emma's mom once went out with Joey's dad I think…" Mike replayed what he'd said in his head and nodded. "I think that's right… they're all friends, and even though I'm not really related, I've known them my whole life and stuff, so yeah…" he eyed the door again, and Kathleen nodded, trying to process the information, which was hard due to the constant thump.

The two looked at each other and Kathleen felt herself slowly going insane. "Answer it for Christ sake!" she finally snapped, and Mike opened the door promptly sitting back down on the ground.

"Uh, hi," Ross said, smiling sarcastically. "Can I come in?" he asked in the same tone, and Mike nodded.

Ross walked into the hall and shut the door behind him – Kathleen could see the four nervous faces of the others as the wood swung closed. "Mind telling me what exactly is going on here Mike?" he asked, gesturing around the hall.

"Uh…" Mike said, trailing off into nothingness. Kathleen stood beside him, watching the conversation.

"Why won't my daughter or my niece talk to me?" Ross asked, and Mike looked down.

"What's this I hear about Erica's new roommate?" he questioned further, and when Mike refused to answer once again, Kathleen felt obligated to raising her hand timidly.

"Dr. Geller?" she said, and she knew she sounded pathetic. Ross turned to look at her, as if noticing that she was there for the first time.

"Who are you?" Ross asked, and Kathleen was a little disappointed that he didn't remember what her name was from her introduction less then five minutes ago. Was this the paleontologist Emma was talking about? He didn't seem too bright,

"Kathleen Davis; I'm Erica's new roommate…" she reminded.

Ross stared at her for a second. She looked a little familiar to him, someone he couldn't quite place… Maybe she was some failed actress he had seen in one of Joey's many, unfortunately, failed movies. "Are you from England?" he asked, and Kathleen nodded. There was the intellectual side,

"London, actually. I'm so happy that Erica agreed to let me live with her, I don't know what I would have done without her…"

"She's a good girl," Ross muttered, running his hand through his thinning hair. He didn't know what to do. Monica had been asking Erica to house her friends' daughter for months, and now he knew that she had just recently gotten one. He was obligated to tell his sister, wasn't he?

Kathleen didn't want to get Erica in trouble or anyone for that matter, so she decided to distract him with a topic she was familiar with. "Emma tells me that you're a paleontologist."

Ross immediately forgot about the roommate debacle, looking at the British girl carefully. Her interest seemed genuine, and he ventured the question, "Yes, why?"

She smiled at him, and Ross wondered why there were never girls this pretty interested in dinosaurs when he was her age. Well, there had been Charlie, but he had yet to win the Nobel Prize – darn thing -, and he had Rachel now, but…

"I'm a paleontologist," Kathleen stated happily, and Ross smiled. Finally, someone normal he could talk to!

"Really?" he asked eagerly, "What area do you specialize in?"

Mike looked up at Kathleen and Ross, Kathleen doing absolute wonders. Now maybe they had a chance of withholding the roommate information, and get Uncle Ross to agree not to tell Aunt Monica… Though he could tell Aunt Rachel, who could tell someone, who could tell someone, which would probably get back to Erica's mom; but it would give them some time.

"How long have they been out there?" Emma whispered quietly, worried that if they heard her, they'd suddenly remember there were people inside the apartment, and come back in a rage.

"Seven minutes and thirty-nine second," Jack answered back quietly after quickly consulting his watch, sitting beside Erica, with a comforting hand on her back.

Erica moaned into her hands, her heart speeding at the thought of what her mother would say. "Damnit! I knew this would blow up in my face…" It was one thing to not want to live with someone, but something else if you lied about it.

"Nothing's being blown up Ricky," Jack comforted quietly, and Erica felt a tad bit better. Her brother always had a way of saying things that could make you feel better; he could say, 'You're dying,' and the person would thank him.

"But what if Dad tells Monica?" Emma asked, and Jack glared at her.

"We'll get Ross to promise not to tell her."

"What if Dad tells Mom, and then Mom tells Monica?" Emma persisted, and Jack tried hard to keep his voice level. Emma was defiantly not helping Erica feel better.

"We'll tell him that he can't."

"What if Dad tells Pheebs'-"

"Emma!" Jack said, as close to shrill as he ever got. Erica looked up at her horrified, never realizing that one person could tell so many people, who could tell so many people, who could go on and on and on!

Emma bit her lip, noticing for the first time how much of a help she was being, "Oh."

"Don't worry about it Erica," Joey said warmly, rubbing her arm. "She was going to find out eventually, and at least now, you don't have to tell her."

"And how is she going to feel when she gets a call from Ross and finds out I've been lying to her, and didn't even have the guts to tell her myself!" Erica was shouting by the end of it, and Jack forced her to stay sitting with a strong arm.

"Hey, stop being so negative!" Joey shouted defensively, and Jack held up a hand before it could escalate any further.

"Guys, guys," he intervened, and Erica looked seconds away from tears. "We'll tell Uncle Ross he can't tell Mom because you were planning to tell her at Thanksgiving."

"But I wasn't!"

Emma nodded along with the idea, "It's only a week away, so he should be able to keep it secret for that long… and if you bring Kate to Thanksgiving, then Monica'll get to know her, and maybe when you tell her it won't be so bad…"

When Ross and Katie's conversation started to sound like a foreign language, Mike knew that it was time to go back inside. They opened the door, and Erica was sitting on the couch, on the verge of tears, Jack's arm around her; everyone's head turned towards as one the second the sound reached their ears.

"But, I, wasn't, going, to!" Erica almost shouted. Exactly what she wasn't going to do no one had a chance to ask, Emma instantly getting up and walking over to Ross with a childish,

"Daddy." Ross smiled at her, hugging her warmly.

"How's my little girl doing?" he asked sweetly, and Emma pushed away from him slightly.

"You know I'm 24, right?"

Ross thought for a second, remembering the surprise party they'd held for her. "Eh," he brushed off, hugging her again and kissing her on the cheek.

"Mickey," Jack called, and Mike snapped his head to the voice like a gopher, "Come here for a second?"

Mike nodded, silently wishing Emma and Katie good luck. Emma smiled nervously at him and Katie shooed him away mutely.

"Do you have the photo album Rachel was asking for," Ross asked with no trace of roommate curiosity.

Jack pulled Mike into his room, closing the door behind them for some privacy, "What went on out there?" he whispered.

"Did you know Katie was a paleontologist?"

"What?" Kate was a paleontologist? How on earth did that happen?

"Well, Emma must have said something about Uncle Ross being one, and the second we got out the door, they hit it off."

"Did they start talking like Ross and Claries did at the University Christmas party?"

"Kinda," Jack winced, feeling bad for Mike having to witness such a thing more then necessary, "But," he continued, surprisingly upbeat, "Katie was so much more interesting then Claries ever was… but then they started using bigger words and making stupid jokes, and I kind of stopped listening."

Kate being a paleontologist was something that Jack didn't see coming, but at the moment, was thankful for, "What did Ross say about the roommate thing?"

"I think he completely forgot about it to be honest with you. The first minute or so was intense, but then Katie did her thing, and I'm pretty sure Uncle Ross' warming up to her."

"That's always a plus… We're going to tell him to keep it secret until Thanksgiving at my Mom's house. That's when Erica's going to tell her about Kate."

"Sounds good," Mike nodded, reaching to open the door.

Joey waved to Ross from the couch, sitting by Erica for moral support. The girl was almost hyper-ventilating, and he was most defiantly _not_ a doctor. "Calm down Erica," he said, trying to imitate Jack's voice, but failing. "It's going to be okay."

Erica just stared at him with big, doubtful eyes, and Joey bit his lip. "Okay, maybe not, but we'll be here for you if it isn't." That must have been better right. Erica closed her eyes and the next second her head was colliding with his shoulder.

Emma patted her on the back sympathetically, her hands on a huge album that contained over 300 pictures. Ross smiled when he saw it, coming out of his absorbed conversation with Kathleen. "That it?" he asked excited. Emma nodded, and Ross turned to Kate.

"Em accidentally packed it with all her apartment stuff however long ago, and Rach was looking for it the other day, and couldn't find it," he explained, and Emma rolled her eyes.

"It's family photo album Dad, you don't have to explain you're motives for wanting it." Ross gave her a look and took the album away from Emma.

"And I love you too," he smiled. Kathleen laughed, and Jack came into the kitchen as well, Mike sitting down to try and make Erica as small of a distraction as possible.

"Are you going to stay for the movie Uncle Ross?" Jack asked politely, offering him a muffin.

Ross shook his head and started towards the door, "No, I have to go over to Mon's and help her and Chandler… well, help." He smiled slyly, and Emma once again rolled her eyes.

"With the big surprise, yes, we know," Emma sighed. The big 'Thanksgiving Surprise' that their parents had been working on for the longest time, even though no one really knew what it was about. They even grilled Uncle Chandler, which had surprisingly not worked. He usually spouted out information like a water well in the tropics when they got him all alone and started bribing him…

"Hey, Uncle Ross," Jack called out as Ross was heading out the door.

"Yeah?" Ross asked, looking from Jack to Emma. Emma shook her head, expressing her confusion.

Jack walked up to Ross so that they were close, and he leaned forward, lowering his voice, "Uh, about the whole roommate thing?" It took a second for Ross to nod, and Jack continued, "Erica was planning to tell Mom at Thanksgiving; Kathleen just moved in, and she wanted to do it in person, yah know?"

Ross nodded knowledgably, and Jack smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell her."

"Or Uncle Chandler," Jack added quickly, and Ross hesitated a second before nodding. Chandler would have told Monica in a heartbeat, so Jack was smart to cover all the possible areas.

"Dad?" Emma held up the photo album, and Ross took it gratefully.

"Thanks," he muttered, winking at Jack. Jack nodded, and went to sit on the couch.

"Hey-" Ross stopped as he headed out the door. Emma stared at him, wondering if he'd forgotten something else.

"What?" she sighed impatiently, and Ross gave her a look.

"Kathleen," he called, and Kathleen looked up from the television. He motioned for her to come to him, and Emma looked on confused, hoping he wouldn't embarrass her.

"Yeah Dr. Geller?" she asked politely, and Ross smiled at her.

"Really, Ross is fine," he explained, and scratched his head awkwardly. Emma stared at him, knowing how long it could take him to get a proper sentence out when he was nervous. "Look, uh, I know you've got this interview thing with the museum, but there's an opening at the University… They want someone with experience in the paleozoology department, and if you do well, there's a chance for a promotion later on…"

He trailed off and looked hopefully at her. It wasn't often that he met someone who was so passionate about he same thing he was, and he wanted to get a chance to know her better. If she was Erica's roommate, and already got along so well with the other kids, there was a chance she'd be around for long.

Kathleen looked at him, trying to gauge if he was pulling her leg or not. "Are- are you offering me a job?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, I'll have to ask but… yeah, I uh, guess I am," he smiled, and Kathleen nodded,

"I'd love to!"

"Great," Emma smiled at the scene, bemused, "I'll call the school tomorrow, and then leave a message with Emma."

Kathleen nodded, waving goodbye to Ross with Emma.

"You're dad's pretty wicked," she commented once they closed the door and Emma looked up at her surprised for a second.

"… Whatever you say," she answered, moving across the room and sitting on the couch. Kathleen followed close behind her, choosing to sit on the loveseat instead. Jack put the movie in,

"Scoot over Kato," he requested, and Kathleen looked up surprised, but did so regardless. Jack settled down next to her, his arm going around her shoulders for lack of free space.

For a second Kathleen's muscles were tensed, but as soon as the movie started, and she looked over to Erica, Emma and Joey all leaning against each other, it occurred to her that all of these friends did it.

She enjoyed the contact and Mike shifting over on the floor half-way through the movie to lean against her legs, sitting jauntily like only Mike could on a pillow. She smiled, realizing that she enjoyed the presence of others around her.

She had a prospectively great job coming, and she was getting closer to the group of people she was happy to call friends. A feeling of loyalty swelled up inside her chest, and she smiled despite the sad scene in the chosen movie.

"You alright?" Jack whispered into her ear, mistaking her happiness for another emotion.

"Perfectly fine," she answered truthfully, leaning her head against his chest. "Perfectly fine."

**A/N: Sorry bout the long time to update thing, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Review it if you liked it, review if you didn't, I mean, if you hate it and are still reading it, there's probably something you want to say, right? I chose a really bad time to start a story, so the updates may be sparse. I'm ASMing our fall production, and so I leave the house at 7:30 and get back home at 7:00, and usually have hockey later in the night, so, not a lot of time to do anything. Plus there's schoolwork, and that leaves me with no time… and I wanna do Nano in November, so we'll see how that works out… and we're moving soon, so we're starting to pack and have open house on the weekends… ANYWAYS, the point is, I won't be able to write as much as I like, but hopefully you like it, and can bare with me :) **

**Review!**


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